Ayanda Kota


Ayanda Kota is an activist who was the founding chairperson of the Unemployed Peoples' Movement in Grahamstown, South Africa. He is also the President of the Makana Football Association. His political roots are in the black consciousness movement and he is strongly critical of the ruling African National Congress. He is currently the organiser for the Unemployed People's Movement.

Arrest and assault

On 12 January 2012 he was arrested on a charge of theft after failing to return three books that he had borrowed from a local academic. He was subject to police assault while in custody. A number of organisations issued statements in response to the arrest. Kota later stated that he had misplaced the books in question and had repeatedly offered to replace them and that this offer had been clearly communicated to the police.
All charges against Kota were withdrawn a month after the arrest.
In October 2016 the Minister of Police admitted that the assault had taken place and agreed to pay Kota R250 00 in compensation.

Role during 2015 xenophobia crisis

In October 2015 Grahamstown was wracked by serious xenophobic violence. Kota played a key role in grassroots work to oppose xenophobia.

Publications

Some of his published articles are: